"It will take a rally of monumental proportions to save the penis of John McAfee" - Zerohedge, 2017

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Krugman is ever the font of hopefulness: the news

Some news:

New Deal Demoncrat - good news and bad news in this morning's data. I doubt the Fed is going to raise rates just because of an increase in owner-equivalent rent, considering that's just a made-up number with no connection to reality anyway.

The Krugginator - the GOP is not America. He thinks that Trump will face a markedly different and more difficult battle when he squares off against Hitlary. Quote:

First, he’s running a campaign fundamentally based on racism. But Republicans couldn’t call him on that, because more or less veiled appeals to racial resentment have been key to their party’s success for decades. Clinton, on the other hand, won the nomination thanks to overwhelming nonwhite support, and will have no trouble hitting hard on this issue.

Second, Trump is proposing wildly irresponsible policies that benefit the rich. But so were all the other Republicans, so they couldn’t attack him for that. Clinton can.

Third, Trump’s personal record as a businessman is both antisocial and just plain dubious. Republicans, with their cult of the entrepreneur, couldn’t say anything about that. Again, Clinton can.

The G.O.P. paralysis on these issues explains why, again and again, Republicans turned to a proven line of attack — that is, proven not to work: insisting that Trump isn’t a true conservative, which matters to voters not at all. Obviously Democrats will be able to go after different and, I imagine, a lot more salient issues.

And there’s one last thing, which I suspect may make the biggest difference of all: Clinton’s campaign can go after Trump’s fundamental buffoonery.

All fine and dandy, except the assumption underlying this is that Democrats vote with common sense while Republicans vote with their droolbibs. Also, it assumes that Hitlary will be able to attack Trump with the tenacity of, say, Joe Biden; but female politicians can't do that. The minute she pipes up and goes on the attack, the press will label her as "strident" and "a harpy", and she'll start losing support. She can't even raise her voice.